Of Sea and Sky
by DarkEyedDemon
Summary: The Phyrexian invasion is over, and the aven people are left with a broken world. Detemrined to rid Otaria of vile constructs, they join with the people under the sea, but are they to be trusted?
1. A Shattered World

DarkEyedDemon: DED here again! Yes, I realize that I have not finished my Inu future family fic, but that's what you get when only Kayasha reviews! Not that I didn't appreciate her reviews, mind you, but it is sort of like putting all the work into writing the story for no reason at all. Hopefully this one will be different.

Chapter 1: A Shattered World

Vearnor strode slowly across the dust-covered wasteland that was once the sight of the greatest battle during the Phyrexian invasion. The young aven wore light clothing and carried with him a long spear, one that had been sparcely used recently. Since his travel from his home continent of Otaria, there had been very little violent disturbences to hinder his path. His home had suffered great damage from the war but it was not irreversible. His people, one of the three races of bird-folk, had already come back to the skies to survey the exact extent of the damage. Vearnor's mind continued to wander to the thoughts of what was to happen to his brethren in this world that was left to them. He was brought from his daydreaming by a familiar voice.

"Oy! Vearnor! If you don't hurry the ship's goin' to leave without ya!" cried one of the sailors on the ship that had brought him across the waves. He had grown quite close to the man through his travels. 

"Alright, I appreciate the warning. You wouldn't really let them leave without me though, would you?"

The sailor waved his hand dismissively as he turned around. "Hey, we all have the same schedule to keep, I can't convince them you're worth the trouble all the time." Although Vearnor believed the man would stick up for him, he couldn't help but believe that they might just leave him in this wasteland. Taking off into the air the aven flew to land next to his companion.

"Let us go then, Brimod, I have seen enough here." The two walked on until they came to a small docking area inhabited by only one ship. They left the dry expanse to cross a wet one as they boarded the vessel and it set sail back to the land of Otaria.

"What exactly did you want to see in that graveyard anyway?" asked Brimod once they were settled below deck.

"I was looking for hope. It is a ravaged world we live in now and I wondered if there would be anything to help us all in that battlefield," the aven answered solemnly.

"Ah, nothin' there now but dust and death. The blast wiped everything clean; the plauge and the life it infested."

"I suppose we truly are on our own." There was a moment of silence between the two.

"You make it sound like a bad thing! We were given a chance to make a new world, so why don't we make it the best we can?"

His companion's optimism put a smile on Vaernor. "You are quite positive with this matter, but I believe you are right." Just then another sailor shouted down the stairs from the deck.

"All hands on deck! We're under attack!" Vaernor grabbed his spear and Brimod a long cutlass and the two headed out to find the source of the assault.

At first glance, nothing seemed amiss. The only sign of alarm were a few sailors running with drawn swords towards the front of the ship. As the man and the aven followed, several giant crabs came into view on the deck. Their thick carapaces turned back most of the sailor's weapons as they're massive pincher claws came dangerously close to snapping them all in half. Vaernor, his fists and weapon now flowing with golden magic, flew over the sailors and rammed his enchanted weapon into the back of one of the crabs. Pulses of the mystical light flooded into the crustacean, causing it to swell until it blew apart. Vaernor landed safely back on deck in front of the sailors in a fighting stance.

Although Brimod could not empower his weapon, he was not defenceless. He shot long jets of water from his palms that forced the crabs off the ship and far out into the ocean. Despite their best efforts though, they were no match for the steadily increasing numbers of foes. Within minutes the ship would begin sinking under the sheer weight.

When all hope seemed lost, many long bolts of lightning arced over the edge of the deck. The lines of electricity travelled between each crab until they had all fallen limp, each of them dead. Everyone on the ship was staring with shock and confusion at their now dispatched enemies. Their senseless state did not last long as some new being began to climb onto the ship. They looked like large octopus-like creatures, wearing flowing blue and indigo robes. Many of them began hoisting the crab bodies into the sea while some oversaw the process. The ones not moving the crustaceans were holding staffs that ended in orbs still crackling with magic-enduced lightning. Finally, one of the creatures seperated from the rest. It seemed to be some sort of official, having more elegant garb than the others and holding a more regal staff that could be taken as a cepter. The being slid towards Vaernor, believing him to be the one in charge.

"Greetings, I am Ambassador Sholan of the Mer Republic."

"I am Vaernor of the aven people. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you?"

"What are we? Why, we are cephalids."

DED: Man, spellcheck really hated this one. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. I won't be saying anything on the next to chapters, because they will be up this very day. I started this on another site but it didn't do so well, so I'm trying it out here. Please review!


	2. The Cephalids

Chapter 2: The Cephalids

"Cephalids?" Vaernor was confused. He had never even heard fairy tales about creatures such as this. All of the sailors around him seemed just as bewildered as he.

"I trust you are the one in charge on this ship?" asked Sholan, clicking his beak as he spoke.

"I am the one who organized this expedition, but I am not the captain of this ship. What is that you want with us all?"

"We have come in an effort to form an alliance with the realm of Otaria, and that is where you are bound is it not? The Mer Republic sits off the coast of the very continent and I am on my way back there from a matter that desired my imediate attention. If you are of the aven, then I should like to meet the rest of your people."

The other sailors shifted uneasily but none would speak up, none but Brimod. "You can sail with us if you believe it would take you to Otaria faster."

The ambassador preformed a sort of twisted bow. "You have my grattitude." Using one of the many tentacles he supported himself on, he pointed to two of the cephalid mages and they slid foreward. The rest of them hurled themselves overboard and back into the ocean. "They will head to the rest of my people to inform them of my whereabouts." Brimod nodded and showed the three cephalids a cabin that they could stay in before rejoining Vaernor next to the stairs that led below deck. The rest of the crew had gone back to their posts and jobs in maintaining the ship.

"So what do you think of these things?" questioned Brimod.

"There are many things that are veiled by the waves, and they are no exception. They did however help us, if they hadn't come when they did then we would all be at the bottom of the ocean right now." 

"Aye, no doubt 'bout that. I suppose they couldn't cause too much harm up here."

"The only thing that worries me is that them and the crabs were waiting just below our ship to strike us and eachother. Who knows what else might be waiting underneath us."

"Probably best not to think about it right now," said Brimod with a satisfied nod. The rest of the voyage went by uneventfully, the cephalids staying in their own cabin the entire time. Once they docked in Otaria, the sea folk came out into the light of the morning sun.

"If it is alright with you, Vaernor, I would like to start towards the place that the avens live as soon as possible," stated Sholan. 

"Very well, we can leave now, but I'm afraid it might take some time. It is my assumption that you have....well, trouble walking on the land," Vaernor answered awkwardly.

"Do not worry about walking, you may fly as your kind was meant to. We will be right behind you." Vaernor nodded, though a little uncertain to the cephalid's promise. Never the less, he flapped his great wings and took off into the sky. He looked behind him and witnissed something he could never have expected.

Each cephalid spread behind them four of their tentacles and formed two sheets of a long blue membrane, each held by two of their four outstretched tentacles. Caught now by the strong breeze the sea folk rose up to fly level with the surprised aven. "As you can see, merfolk are not completely incapacitated when it comes to travel," said Sholan regally. Vaernor only nodded, beating his wings to keep him aloft. These cephalids were certainly full of surprises, and he could only hope they all remained as harmless as a method of flight.


	3. The Aven

Chapter 3: The Aven

Vaernor, Sholan and the two cephalid mages were finally nearing the aven roosts at the northern tip of the Pardic Mountains. The aven were never bothered by the mountain barbarians who kept to themselves deeper in the mountain, pursuing what the aven claimed were 'wicked magics'. The aven very rarely left their own homes, the only other races that they truly ascociated with being the other two races of the bird-folk. The four air-borne travellers began their descent as the aven homes loomed into view. They all landed upon the large, central flat surface of stone that made up the main area of the aven roosts.

"If you want to see the leader of our people," Vaernor said to the merfolk. "Then you'll need to see Master Bretath. Follow me." Vaernor led the sliding cephalids towards a large cave mouth in the side of the taller mountains. The Mer got several suspicious looks from the aven but no one questioned Vaernor's odd visitors. The inside of the cave would have looked like nothing more than an abandoned den if it weren't for the aven guards standing along the walls. At the end of the cave there sat another, more regal looking aven upon a sort of rock throne, his presence noticeable because of the magically stoked torches that lined the cave between the soldiers. Each aven guard carried a long spear except for the ones closest to the apparant leader, they carried short swords and shields. The master aven stood and stepped down from his seat. 

"Vaernor, you have returned. Was your journey successful?"

"No, my Lord Bretath. The land was as expected, nothing more than a graveyard for the honored dead." Before Vaernor even finished his sentence he had sunk into a bow, revealing the three cephalids behind him.

Bretath gave an expression that would've looked as though he were raising an eyebrow were he human and had them. "And who are these guests you bring with you?"

Sholan spoke up for him and his two mages before Vaernor's beak could even part. "I am ambassador Sholan of the Mer Republic, and these are my two high mages. We come wishing to extend an alliance between our people and your own."

The aven lord crossed his arms over his chest and his wings fluttered slightly behind him. "This is a difficult thing to give to one of which I know nothing about. What manner of creature are you?" 

"We are cephalids, we come from beneath the oceans on the western and southern sides of Otaria. Our republic is followed by not only our own kind, but many other sea-dwellers as well." The ambassador shifted his cepter from one tentacle to another.

Bretath nodded. "Very well, but to what advantage would their be with an alliance with your kind? The aven are perfectly happy how our lives are now."

The ambassador's face seemed to darken, or as much as a cephalid's face could darken. "And this is why we come to you. Both, your kind and mine's ways of life could be in danger. You are obviously aware of the great battle that took place against the Phyrexian Plauge, and of the powerful machines and artifacts that were imployed in the war. Many of these constructs still exist across Otaria, and if they would fall into the wrong hands, then our continent would have excaped the invasion futilely."

Bretath's face became as equally grim as the ambassador's. "I am aware of these machines, perhaps too aware." He pulled back the sleeves of the white robe that he wore. Both of his arms were covered with long, black, crossing scars. "Such constructs are what left me like this, and I agree with your drive to destroy the things. Perhaps an alliance would be best."

Sholan nodded sagely. "With your people coming from the north, and mine from the south, we could easily sweep Otaria clean of all of these monstrocities, once and for all." He extended one of his free tentacles towards the aven who grasped it in his three-fingered hand. Vaernor stood off to the side right where tentacle and hand met. He watched his master form an allegience with a people they had never heard anything about before right before his eyes. He, too, was quite opposed to the existence of the constructs, but could their destruction really be obtained through the aid of these ocean-dwellers? He could only hope that the people below the waves weren't as suddenly violent and malevolent as the waves themselves.


End file.
